Monday, November 30, 2015

I am really proud of the fact I actually finished this reading challenge. I wound up finding several great new authors and enjoyed a large number of books I probably never would have picked up. To recap a few of the notables this year:

My top 3 favorite reads:
Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth. A wonderful retelling of the Rapunzel fairy tale.
All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. A completely unexpected favorite this year. I chose it to fulfill the category need, but wound up becoming completely immersed in it.
Iceland by Betsy Tobin. I loved this combination of Norse mythology with historical fiction. I was inspired enough by this book to design a shawl for my Heroines Club for 2016!

My 3 least favorite reads:
The Hours by Michael Cunningham. Meh - I don't think this lived up to the hype AT.ALL.
Magic America by C.E. Medford. Depressing and not in an enlightening way. More violence and cancer than I really needed to read about.
Beloved by Toni Morrison. Is this book on all the should-read lists simply because it was banned? I found it confusing and depressing.

I've decided to forge on and do the challenge again for 2016. The upcoming topics are listed below, with some of my tentative choices included in italics. My plan, however, is to try to get as many of these on loan from my library and/or as Kindle loaners. I do have a few of them on the bookshelves already, and I may wind up slotting a few others in as I go, depending on what my dad sends me in his book gift boxes every other month or so. I'm looking forward to finding some gems in 2016 too!

2016 Reading Challenge List

A book that you've seen the
movie of but haven't read: Edith Wharton – Age of Innocence.Reader's Choice (freebie): A book about mental illness (i.e. substance
abuse, alzheimer's, autism, bipolar, etc.):
Mark Haddon – The Curious Incident
of the Dog in the Night-Time.
A book that's title begins with the first letter of your name – Wallace Stegner – Angle of ReposeA book with a great opening line: Paula
Hawkins – The Girl on the TrainA book by an author you feel you should have
read by now: Ian McEwan – Atonement.A book with a beautiful title (in your own
opinion): Philip
Margulies – Belle Cora.A work of young adult fiction: Tiffany
Trent – The Unnaturals.A book set in a different continent: John Shors
– Temple of a Thousand Faces.A book with a first name in the title: Marisa
Silver – Mary Coin.A book whose main character is in a profession
that interests you: Vanessa Diffenbaugh – The Language of FlowersA book everyone is talking about A book related to a hobby or passion you have: Whitney
Otto – How to Make an American QuiltA book with a type of food/drink in the title: Ray
Bradbury – Dandelion Wine.A book by an author who writes under more than
one nameThe next book in a series you are reading: Stephanie Barron - Jane and the Stillroom
MaidA book from your "to read" list: Anthony
Horowitz – The House of SilkA book you're embarrassed to read in publicA book about books: Jasper Fforde – The Eyre Affair.A crime story:
Gerri Brightwell – The Dark
LanternA book with one of the five Ws -or H in the
title (Who/What/Where/When/Why/How) Hazel
Gaynor – The Girl Who Came HomeA book about a thing that goes bump in the night
(i.e. vampires, monsters, etc.): Brian Ruckley – The Edinburgh Dead (print
copy)The first book in a new to you series: Jules
Watson – The White MareA book from the Rory Gilmore challenge: Isabel
Allende – Eva Luna.The 16th book on your to-read list: Theodora
Goss – The Thorn and the Blossom.A book that was mentioned in another bookAn award winning book (Pulitzer, Newbery,
Caldecott, Man Booker, Printz, National Book Award, etc.) A historical fiction book: Katherine Howe – The House of Velvet and Glass.A book set in the past (more than 100 years ago): Pauline
Gedge – The Eagle and the Raven.A book from the Goodreads Recommendations page: DJ
Taylor – Kept.A top 100 fantasy novel (The hobbit/LOTR, Game
of Thrones, The Chronicles of Prydain, etc.): T.H. White – The Once and Future KingA book from the top 100 mystery novels: Marcia
Muller – Edwin of the Iron ShoesA childhood classic (i.e. Anne of Green Gables,
Black Beauty, The Secret Garden, etc.) Elizabeth
George Speare – The Witch of Blackbird Pond.A non-fiction book: Fiona Carnarvon – Lady Almina
and the Real Downton Abbey.The highest-rated book on your to-read list: Betsy Tobin – The Clockmaster.
A biography, autobiography, or memoir A book published in 2016 A book with a beautiful cover A book about a major world event (fiction or
non-fiction)
A book from the Goodreads Choice Awards 2015 (winner or nominated)A book you meant to read in 2015, but didn't
An identity book - a book about a different culture, religion, or sexual
orientation than your ownA book about an anti hero A suggestion that did not make it into the final
listA classic book with less than 200 pagesA novella from your favorite genreA "between the numbers" book of a
series (0.5, 1,5, 2.5, etc.): Kate Daniels – Gunmetal Magic.
A fairytale from a culture other than your own: A short story from a well-known author – Neil Gaiman – CinnamonA book by an author you discovered in 2015 and want to read more of A dystopia A book on a summer/beach reading list A book originally written in a language other
than English

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

I'm in the home stretch on the first Heroines Club Shawl pattern for 2016. I have a couple more hours of knitting time to put in on it, and it'll be done and ready to head off for tech editing/testing. I'm looking forward to sending this one out into the world - it's a really fun set of gradients!

The yarn just arrived yesterday for the next deadline project, which will be a fair isle/stranded knitting garment. Lots of knitting to do on that with a pretty short deadline, so I'll be focused on that for the next couple of weeks.

Waiting on yarn for 2 other deadline projects that got accepted for Fall 2016 publications - one is small-ish and the other is a men's garment, so I have plenty on the deadline knitting front to keep me busy for a while.

Personal Knitting:

Because I suffer heartily from the Cobbler's Wife syndrome (as in... I knit constantly, and hardly ever have knitwear to wear myself), and I needed a new hat, I cast on for a Felicity Hat in some of my oldest stashed handspun yarn. This is a blend of wool and mohair (60/40 maybe?) in the Winter Dawn colorway, which is kind of a dusty mauve/purple colors. When I purchased it, or even when I spun it, is lost in the mists of time - it's VERY well-aged stash. It was sometime pre-Ravelry and it's been waiting for a project.

I haven't made any further progress on it, but just to show an updated picture of my Mesa Verde shawl, here it is. I've got another repeat and a half to do to finish it up and may work on this a bit over the holiday weekend if I have some spare knitting minutes.

I've got a bad case of startitis right now. I suppose that's what one does when faced with mountains of deadline knitting? I'm trying valiantly to suppress the urge to cast on new quickie projects - that's what I've been in the mood to knit right now (and maybe a fallout from a lot of larger deadline projects?). I also have 2 WIPs, which is a rare occurrence for me. One is the mystery shawl from Kirsten Kapur from this summer. I think I have clues 4, 5 and 6 left to knit. The other is a pair of socks which I've gotten as far as the cuff and maybe 1-1/2" down the leg on. Both of these are holdovers from many months ago - like last spring (socks) and summer (shawl). I generally don't like to leave things on the needles this long. I am strongly considering frogging the socks and starting over with something else. I'd like to finish the shawl, but I may have to wait a bit on that and try to work on it after December 20th when I'll need to have 2 of the 3 deadline projects (other than the Heroines shawl), finished.

I finished the shawl for the Heroines Club January kit. That is off to my TE and test knitter.

I started the big stranded garment knitting deadline project this weekend. I've got 1 sleeve about half-knit and I've started on the body, with about 2" of that finished). I'm going to get sleeve #1 done completely and cast on for sleeve #2.

I have 2 other deadline projects, 1 large, 1 small, that I'm waiting on yarn to start.

Personal Knitting:

The handspun Felicity hat is done! It's maybe a wee bit dense with this yarn (which is more like an Aran then a worsted), but it's SUPER warm because of that and the mohair content. This was a really quick and easy project. I only used half of the yardage of this handspun, so I could either knit another hat, or might knit a pair of gauntlet-length fingerless mitts, or a pair of mittens.

I also finished my Mesa Verde Shawl #2, which I knit out of Rowan Scottish Tweed from deep stash.

Monday, November 23, 2015

I am done! Before I left to vend in Texas, I actually finished up both Muse and The Last Unicorn.

Muse was just the kind of historical fiction I like to read. Set in 14th century Avignon, and filled with lots of historical detail about the time period, the author also created wonderful characters and filled in the storyline about Petrarch's mistress with tidbits of fact she was able to glean from extant resources (and granted, there is very little known about this woman, but I liked how the author created a strong female voice within a very male-dominated time period.)

I finished things up with The Last Unicorn. I'm so glad I had this book to close out the year's challenge. Lovely, lyrical, filled with magical things and a fairy-tale based in reality, this was one that I will keep close to hand when I need a smile or an uplifting moment in my day. Peter Beagle writes well, and his turn of phrase and choices of words make this one a definite favorite of the year for me.

Next week, a quick recap of my favorites and not-so favorites of 2015, and a peek at the topics for 2016!

WEEKS & TOPICS

1. a book with more than 500 pages: Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth. FINISHED.

Friday, November 20, 2015

This week, I finished spinning up the combo spin from FatCatKnits "Famous Couples" club. This was the September 2015 installment - Sam and Dean.

I got two 2.5-oz braids of a superwash merino/sparkle base, which are shown coiled around each other above. The "Sam" colorway is the red/black/white/yellow one, and the "Dean" colorway is the purple/black/teal/white one.

I spun each of the colorways up separately, and then I plied them together to get:

This crazy bright 2-ply yarn!

Yarn Specs:Fiber: Superwash merino wool/nylon sparkle - 5.0 oz.Colorway: Sam and Dean (2.5 oz of each color).Ply: 2-ply.Weight: Fingering weight with 504 yards and 4.9 oz in the finished skein.
I originally thought I'd make socks from this, but 504 yards is WAY more yardage than I need for socks. I might do socks AND a pair of mitts, or maybe try to figure out a really simple shawl pattern that would play nicely with this.

Next I'll be starting the last blended roving offering from my Wooly Wonka Mythical Creatures Club - Gryphons, as I'm in the mood for a little heathery/tweedy yarn to make something for the colder weather.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Thanks to a couple of evenings in my hotel and not going out to be social after a day of vending, I am on the final repeat of the large lace project. That should be done and blocked by this weekend. It's already been reviewed by my TE, so it's ready to roll out of here to the publication shortly.

I've been working on the first Heroines Shawl Club 2016 pattern. I'm done the first lace pattern on that and just started the second. I'll be feverishly working away on that while I wait for yarn to arrive for.....

Another deadline project that's a long jacket with colorwork. That'll be a dash and a half to get it knit by the end of December's deadline but I think I can get that accomplished.

Personal Knitting: I've been working a bit on my second iteration of Mesa Verde, and I've got one more full and one half pattern repeat left to finish up. If I have some down-time this week, I'll see what I can get knit on that, but re-entry post the Kid N Ewe festival, plus a teaching night and a photo shoot on Friday, probably means not much will be happening there.

Monday, November 9, 2015

In the home stretch! This week I finished Musewhich is a historical fiction novel about the woman who fathered the poet, Petrarch's, children. Set in 14th century Avignon, this story imagines what type of young woman was the mother of his children, and follows this character, Solange Le Blanc, from her days in a nunnery where she learned to be a scribe, through her years as Petrarch's mistress, and eventually her return to the nunnery where she grew up. It ties in all sorts of great history including the years when the plague came to Avignon, and Pope Clement's reign in the city during that time period. There is virtually nothing known about the actual woman who was the mother of Petrarch's children, but this story ties in enough details of the time to create a believable character. I really enjoyed this one. You'll also note that I read a graphic novel this week. I'll come clean here and say I don't "get" these. Are they comic books? Regular books? So I decided I would find a freebie on Amazon - which I did - Saltwater Witch - and read it. I LOVED the first 4 pages; gorgeous underwater watercolors with beautiful colors and just a touch of the macabre. And then the text started and it lost me completely - an orphan teen getting tormented and beat up in her group home. Good thing it was only 35 pages. I'm not sure I could have gotten thru much more. And I am on to my final novel, The Last Unicorn. Peter Beagle's fantasy book about the last remaining unicorn. (The main issue with the bad reviews I read was that it had "too much magic" in it, which is what I love about it.) I'm planning to finish that one up this week and then I'll be ready to start the new challenge list in 2016 when the new year arrives!

WEEKS & TOPICS

1. a book with more than 500 pages: Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth. FINISHED.

Friday, November 6, 2015

This week, I finished spinning the singles and plied the gradient I was working on last week.

Yarn Specs:Roving: Hilltop Cloud gradient pack in "Lake Shore" colorway, a blend of 50% merino wool, 37.5% shetland wool and 12.5% linen (flax).Weight: Fingering weight.Ply: 2-ply.Yardage: 574 yards/5.1 oz.
I hadn't spun this particular blend before (it's a custom blend from Hilltop Cloud), but I loved it. Rustic look with the flax, but enough merino in there that it's still passably soft. I did pretty well on spinning the singles evenly. I had only about 2-1/2 yards of singles left on one bobbin after I plied, so the color shifts lined up pretty nicely!

With this spin, I'm within a pound of reaching my 7.5 pounds spun in 2015 goal! I'm hoping I can finish up the next 14 ounces in the next weeks before the year's end!

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Still working on the first deadline project. I've knit about 1/4 of it and started in on the second quarter. That's my primary project right now.

I have the Annika sweater up to the point I'm ready to bind off for the front neckline and sleeves. If I have bandwidth, I'll see if I can get that done this weekend, but I'm in the throes of a LOT of dyeing right now to get ready for the Kid N Ewe show in Texas next weekend, as well as finishing up some other custom orders.

Personal Knitting: Hey! I have something! I decided to cast on a Mesa Verde Shawl in a darker colorway using some (ancient) stash Rowan Scottish Tweed. I picked a dark heathery chocolate brown with flecks of blue and yellow and a dusty mid-range blue. I've knit 2 of the repeats so far and it looks like:

I'm taking that with me to knit night tonight! (And if any of my readers are interested, I'm hosting a KAL for Free Spirit Knits over in my Ravelry group from mid-November through the end of January 2016. You pick the project from any of the ones in the book - so you can customize it to what you like best.)

And... I finished up the embroidery on the seam lines of the patches on the Bertie's Year - January this week, and just started the snowflakes. I won't likely get anything done on this until I'm back from Texas, so this one will be on hold for a couple of weeks.

Monday, November 2, 2015

This week, I finished the audiobook of Cinder. This is a retelling of the Cinderella fairy tale, but set in the future, and Cinder is a cyborg who works as a mechanic. If you haven't covered your eyes and run away based on that description let me tell you what I liked:

Clever reworking of the story - I liked the tidbits the author pulled in from the original story.
The characters are well-developed and strong.
Entertaining - I zipped thru the audiobook!

And what I didn't like:Ugh - I guess I didn't realize this was part of a set. This volume finishes just after the ball, but I think if you commit to reading this, you'll want to read the rest of the series. (Which I likely will pick up at some point, but I've got some other things to read first.)
I asked D what he thought "young adult" meant, and he said almost the same thing I thought - 13 or 14 years old. But I think there are too many intense themes in this for 99% of the 14 year olds out there. Maybe 16 or 17? I dunno - but forewarned that I don't think it's appropriate for middle or most junior high school kids despite the "young adult" label.

I just started Muse yesterday but so far, I'm really loving this book. Based on the poet Petrarch and his mistress, Solange Le Blanc, and set in medieval Avignon, it's just the sort of historical fiction I enjoy! I haven't heard about my loan of The Last Unicorn via the library, so if that doesn't arrive by the time I'm done Muse, I may pick something else. I still need to get thru a graphic novel but I suspect I will have to buy a copy of the one I've got earmarked - but those are the last books on the list for 2015!

WEEKS & TOPICS

1. a book with more than 500 pages: Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth. FINISHED.